Visual analysis of multidimensional clusters

Title: Visual analysis of multidimensional clusters.Abstract: Visualization techniques are provided for a clustered multidimensional dataset. A data set is visualized by obtaining a clustering of a multidimensional dataset comprising a plurality of entities, wherein the entities are instances of a particular concept and wherein each entity comprises a plurality of features; and generating an icon for at least one of the entities, the icon having a plurality of regions, wherein each region corresponds to one of the features of the at least one entity, and wherein a size of each region is based on a value of the corresponding feature. Each icon can convey statistical measures. A stabilized Voronoi-based icon layout algorithm is optionally employed. Icons can be embedded in a visualization of the multidimensional dataset. A hierarchical encoding scheme can be employed to encode a data cluster into the icon, such as a hierarchy of cluster, feature type and entity. ...

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the electrical, electronic and computer arts, and, more particularly, to information visualization techniques.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Clustering is a widely used method to group data entities into subsets called clusters such that the entities in each cluster are similar in some way. A powerful feature of clustering algorithms is that they can generate clusters without any pre-defined labels or categories, which makes them an ideal choice for analyzing data with little or no a priori information. Unlike classification, in which categories with clear semantic meanings are pre-defined, clustering by definition works without these initial constraints on how data entities should be grouped. Users are only required to choose a distance function (e.g., Euclidean distance) that measures how similar two data items are in a feature space, and some other parameters such as the number of clusters or a maximum cluster diameter. Clustering algorithms will then automatically partition data.

While this clustering technique is powerful, users often have difficulty understanding the semantic meaning of the resulting clusters and evaluating the quality of the results, especially for high-dimensional data. There are several issues which make understanding and evaluating clustering results difficult. First, for high-dimensional data, the entities that are grouped together are close in a high-dimensional feature space. However, their similarity may be mainly because of their closeness on a subset of dimensions instead of all dimensions. Understanding these abstract relationships can be challenging. Moreover, a cluster may contain several different sub-clusters that have different semantic meanings for users. This sub-cluster structure is usually hard to detect.

Second, as unsupervised learning processes use no semantic knowledge or pre-defined categories, clustering algorithms often require users to input some parameters in advance. For example, users must provide the number of clusters (i.e., k) for the well known K-means algorithm. However, it is challenging to select a proper k value for the underlying data. Therefore, algorithms such as K-means algorithms might group together entities that are semantically different (when k is smaller than the real number of clusters) or separate entities that are semantically similar (when k is larger than the real number of clusters). Thus, users need some way to evaluate and refine the clustering results.

Information visualization can be of great value in addressing these issues. For example, techniques such as scatter plot matrices, parallel coordinates, and RadViz have been used to visually explain the results of clustering algorithms. Some algorithms focus on revealing the multi-attribute values of clusters to help users understand the semantic meaning of clusters while others provide visual cues for the cluster quality. However, none of these techniques offer a complete solution for cluster interpretation, evaluation, and refinement.

A need therefore exists for a visualization technique that allows users to understand the semantic meaning of various clusters, evaluate their qualities, compare different clusters, and refine clustering results as necessary. A further need exists for a visualization technique that can be embedded into various visual displays or presentations.

SUMMARY

OF THE INVENTION

Generally, visualization techniques are provided for a clustered multidimensional dataset. According to one aspect of the invention, a data set is visualized by obtaining a clustering of a multidimensional dataset comprising a plurality of entities, wherein the entities are instances of a particular concept and wherein each entity comprises a plurality of features; and generating an icon for at least one of the entities, the icon having a plurality of regions, wherein each region corresponds to one of the features of the at least one entity, and wherein a size of each region is based on a value of the corresponding feature.

Each of the features can be uniquely encoded in the generated icon, for example, using a unique color or hash pattern. For example, when each of the features are encoded with a unique color, a distribution of the colors can indicate a distribution of the corresponding feature value.

According to another aspect of the invention, a number of user interactions are provided that allow a user to group icon clusters into larger clusters using a merge operation, or to perform split operations on icons. A merge operation can decompose a plurality of icons into corresponding feature values and then regroup the feature values into the larger single icon. Cluster changes can optionally be animated following a merge or split operation.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, each icon conveys one or more statistical measures. For example, an outer shape of each icon can convey statistical measures. In a further variation, a color, hash pattern or shading of each of the plurality of regions can convey statistical measures.

In one exemplary embodiment, a stabilized Voronoi-based icon layout algorithm is employed to substantially maintain a stability of Voronoi regions when cluster changes occur. Likewise, a stabilized Voronoi-based icon layout algorithm can be employed to substantially maintain a predefined order for regions within an icon that places Voronoi regions next to each other according to semantic similarities.

An additional aspect of the invention includes the ability to embed the icons in a visualization of the multidimensional dataset. A hierarchical encoding scheme can be employed to encode a data cluster into the icon, such as a hierarchy of cluster, feature type and entity.

A more complete understanding of the present invention, as well as further features and advantages of the present invention, will be obtained by reference to the following detailed description and drawings.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary encoding of a normalized skew using icon shapes;

FIGS. 6A through 6E illustrate a number of exemplary user interactions that allow an exemplary user to group icon clusters into larger clusters using a merge operation, or to perform split operations on icons;

FIG. 7 is pseudo code for an exemplary an exemplary implementation of a stabilized Voronoi-based icon layout algorithm incorporating features of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart describing an exemplary implementation of a global layout algorithm incorporating features of the present invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary cluster C0 that is split into two smaller clusters C1 and C2; and

FIG. 10 depicts a computer system that may be useful in implementing one or more aspects and/or elements of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention provides a dynamic icon-based visualization system 100 that helps users understand, evaluate, and adjust complex multidimensional clustering results. The disclosed dynamic icon-based visualization system 100 encodes the raw data values in multiple dimensions as well as the statistical information related to cluster quality. The encoded statistical information provides visual cues to facilitate cluster evaluation and adjustment. The disclosed dynamic icon-based visualization system 100 employs an icon design that can be conveniently embedded into a wide range of presentations. Moreover, the disclosed dynamic icon-based visualization system 100 supports intuitive user interactions for cluster refinement.

According to one aspect of the invention, a multidimensional cluster icon design is provided that encodes multiple data attributes as well as derived statistical information for cluster interpretation and quality evaluation. According to another aspect of the invention, a stabilized icon layout algorithm is provided that generates similar icons for similar clusters for cluster comparison. In addition, intuitive user interactions are provided to support cluster refinement via direct manipulation of icons. A treemap-like space filling technique can be used to pack features of each cluster entity into an organized and stabilized hierarchy. Global statistical information can be embedded using icon shape and local statistics can be captured through the use of color (or hash patterns).

System Overview

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary architecture for the dynamic icon-based visualization system 100. As shown in FIG. 1, the exemplary dynamic icon-based visualization system 100 comprises a preprocessing module 110 that includes a feature extraction block 120 to extract key features of a multidimensional dataset 115 and includes a cluster analysis block 130 that conducts a cluster analysis. The exemplary cluster analysis is based on these extracted features to transform raw data from the multidimensional dataset 115 into a set of exemplary entity records in the form of <id|cid|f1, f2, . . . fn|a1|a2| . . . |an>, where id is the record id, cid is the cluster id, fi is the ith feature and ai is the ith non-feature attribute.

A visualization module 140 first generates cluster icons via a cluster layout algorithm 150, discussed further below in a section entitled “Icon Layout,” and in conjunction with FIG. 7. The visualization module 140 then performs a global layout process 160, discussed further below in a section entitled “Global Layout,” and in conjunction with FIG. 8, to arrange the generated icons within the overall visualization canvas. A user interaction module 180 supports user manipulations of the cluster icons as described further below in a section entitled “Interactions.” As shown in FIG. 1, these operations are fed back as cluster manipulations 190 into the preprocessing module 110 and visualization module 140 to enable user driven data exploration.

Visualization Design Guidelines

The exemplary dynamic icon-based visualization system 100 follows a number of exemplary design guidelines.

A cluster's visual representation should present different levels of ganularity. Clusters contain information at several scales, ranging from specific entity data features, to individual entities, to overall clusters. An effective visual representation must convey each of these levels of detail. The exemplary dynamic icon-based visualization system 100 converts clustered data into an entity-feature-cluster hierarchy and uses a treemap-based technique to represent them. Connections between features for a single entity are preserved via interactive highlights during mouse-over events.

A multidimensional cluster's representation should employ consistent encodings across entity dimensions and scales. A cluster icon should uniformly apply visual encoding techniques across data dimensions and scales so that users can smoothly navigate across data dimensions and to reduce visual complexity. The exemplary dynamic icon-based visualization system 100 uses the same encoding technique, based on the size and color (or hash pattern) of areas, to represent all feature dimensions. This approach is repeated at the cluster level, providing a consistent representation across scales.

Icons for similar clusters should appear visually similar while dissimilar clusters should have icons that are easily distinguishable. Icons should provide at-a-glance representations that allow users to easily determine which clusters are similar and which are different. This design guideline is important for cluster comparison tasks. The exemplary dynamic icon-based visualization system 100 satisfies this design guideline by using a novel stable layout algorithm. This algorithm maintains consistent feature locations both within and across icons.

In addition, the visual representation should allow users to interactively manipulate clusters for refinement and exploration. Users should be able to select clusters to be merged, select entities to be removed from a cluster, and to select individual clusters for subdivision into finer grained sets. All changes in cluster membership should be visually reflected in a stable manner to maintain a user's mental map as much as possible. The exemplary dynamic icon-based visualization system 100 satisfies this guideline by providing a number of interactive cluster refinement features.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary visual encoding 200 for an exemplary patient dataset. As discussed hereinafter, the exemplary visual encoding 200 uses a combination of spatial size, position, and color (or hash pattern) to convey key cluster properties. In the visual encoding 200, an individual entity, such as individual 210, is described by a feature vector 220. For example, an entity in N dimension is described by a vector with N features.

Each feature in the vector 220 is a numerical value depicted by a small cell. Each feature can be encoded by cells with colors and sizes. The cells are packed together to generate an individual icon 230, visualizing the entity 210. Individual icons are grouped together as represented by a collection of individuals 240 to form a group icon 250 by splitting and re-grouping their features into categories. For example, the group icon 250 can be visualized as an icon by splitting the features in the individual icons 230 and grouping the feature cells by category.

Generally, an n-dimensional data cluster contains a number of entities, each of which is described by a set of features, noted as F=f0, . . . fn. For example, FIG. 2 depicts an entity 210 from a healthcare dataset that corresponds to the medical record of a single patient. The exemplary record 220 contains six features, including severity scores for various co-morbidities such as cancer and diabetes. The exemplary dynamic icon-based visualization system 100 assumes quantitative features and the visual encoding process begins by globally normalizing the range of all features to the interval [0;1]. This enables the visualization of multiple features regardless of scale. A second local normalization step is performed on each entity such that the total value of all features equals one (i.e., Σi=0πfi=1). The feature values are then mapped to color-coded cells (or hash-coded cells) in an icon 230 whose sizes represent the locally normalized values. As depicted in FIG. 2, the cells are packed together to form an iconic representation 230 of the entity 210. The local normalization step ensures that the total area for the icon is equal to one unit.

When a set of entities are grouped together into a cluster 240, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the entity icons must be combined into a single aggregate iconic representation 250. A cluster icon 250 is generated by (1) splitting each entity icon 230 into individual feature cells, (2) regrouping the feature cells by feature type, and (3) packing the regrouped cells into a single overall cluster icon 250, as shown in FIG. 2.

The packing process uses a hierarchical treemap layout where a cluster serves as the top level object, feature types form the second level of the hierarchy, and individual patient features make up the third and final level of the hierarchy. The exemplary area used for each entity's feature cells is normalized to one. Thus, the total size of a cluster icon represents the total number of entities in that cluster.

By default, each cell in a cluster icon 250 is rendered using the color or hash pattern assigned by its corresponding feature. For instance, all “cancer” cells in FIG. 2 would be rendered in the same shade of blue (or hash pattern). However, because of the local normalization step, a cell's size does not necessarily convey the raw magnitude of the value it represents. Instead, it represents the relative weight of the feature for a given entity. To allow comparison of raw data values, color (or hash) opacity can be optionally mapped to the raw feature values. When this approach is utilized, more heavily saturated cells correspond to cells with the highest non-normalized values for a given feature. This information is critical for some tasks, but also introduces visual complexity. For this reason, the exemplary dynamic icon-based visualization system 100 allows users to turn this feature off if not needed.

This exemplary design provides a number of key advantages. First, this exemplary design provides intuitiveness and efficiency by leveraging several well established techniques such as space filling and using color (or hash) opacity for data variances and diversities. Second, this exemplary design compresses high dimensional cluster information into relatively small cluster icons which can be easily embedded within other visualizations. Third, the icons show which clusters are similar to each other while providing visual cues for more detailed analysis. Fourth, the approach scales to work effectively with large numbers of clusters. Finally, the icons enable interactive manipulation, as discussed further below in the section entitled “Interactions.”

The number of feature dimensions that can be visualized at any one time is limited because each must be represented by a unique user distinguishable color (or hash pattern). To alleviate this problem, feature selection can be used to identify the key features that should be included in a given visualization. Another challenge is that it can be hard for users to obtain precise feature values from our representation. However, it is believed that information loss is a reasonable trade-off for the benefits of representing multidimensional information using small, compact icons.

Visual Cues and Statistic Embedding

To further strengthen the exemplary visual encodings, statistical measures are embedded into the exemplary cluster icons 250. These measures provide additional information that helps during cluster quality evaluation. Statistical measures are considered at both global cluster level and at the local feature level as summarized in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a sample table 300 summarizing the moments and visual cues, discussed hereinafter, for various metrics.

Global Measures. Several standard moments are selected as global measures and embedded into cluster icons via an icon's overall shape. FIGS. 4 and 5 show examples of how icon shape can be used to simulate the underlying data distribution.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary encoding of a normalized kurtosis k using icon shape. As shown in FIG. 4, the shape of an icon, such as icons 410, 420, 430, intuitively shows the distributions of underlying data. Two linear functions k′(k) and k″(k) can be formed by combining k and the original radii r of the icon. The linear functions are used to respectively present the height and the width of the top end of the ladder icon. The width of the bottom end is automatically adjusted to keep the icon size proportional to the number of its containing entities. FIG. 4 depicts the icons generated with different k value.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary encoding of a normalized skew using icon shapes. The cluster skew is used to adjust the position of the top vertex of the triangle which represents the data asymmetry intuitively. Icons 510 and 520 have different skew values. Icon 530 is generated by combining both kurtosis and skew together.

Visual cues such as the “Peakness Cue” and “Asymmetry Cue” are thus provided in the exemplary embodiment. Similarly, the standard derivation for a cluster can be encoded using the same technique. Shape as a perceptive visual property provides high efficiency for cluster comparison. Unfortunately, the irregular icon shapes may make precise size comparisons more difficult. The exemplary dynamic icon-based visualization system 100 allows users to turn this feature on or off as needed during their analysis.

Local Measures. Several measures are also considered at the feature level. Local measures can be encoded by controlling the color or hash pattern of individual cells. For example, as mentioned above, raw non-normalized feature values can be encoded using color (or hash) opacity to enable quantitative comparison within clusters.

For example, cluster quality can be evaluated using the difference between a feature\'s value and its mean. The difference is encoded using color (or hash) opacities and is enhanced by shades. Cells with higher color (or hash) saturation have a large difference from the mean and the sign of the difference is encoded by shade. This approach depicts a “Quality and Outlier Cue.” Using this technique, high quality clusters appear with a more homogeneous representation in color opacity. A cluster\'s outlier cells, which have large differences from the mean, can be visually highlighted with a more saturated color and stronger shade.

To facilitate multidimensional analysis, consider the co-occurrence patterns of features. Given a normalized feature vector F<f1, . . . , fn>, the co-occurrence probability Cij of two given features fi, fjεF is defined as follows:

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